Lejeune Marine pleads guilty to urinating on Taliban corpse

By Daily News staff

Published: Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 07:38 PM.

A Camp Lejeune Marine pleaded guilty this week to urinating on the corpses of Taliban soldiers.

Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin pleaded guilty Wednesday in a special court martial aboard Camp Lejeune to two articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: Article 92, Dereliction, for failing to properly supervise junior Marines and wrongfully posing for photographs with human casualties; and Article 134, General Article, for wrongfully urinating on the body of a deceased enemy combatant, according to a press release from the base.

Chamblin, of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, was sentenced by a military judge to 30 days confinement, 60 days restriction, forfeiture of $500 per month for six months, a fine of $2,000 and reduction to E-3/lance corporal. However, a pre-trial agreement approved by Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, set Chamblin’s maximum sentence at forfeiture of $500 for one month and reduction to E-5/sergeant, according to the release.

A video of the incident, which took place in
Helmand Province
,
Afghanistan
, in July 2011, showed what appeared to be four Marines urinating on the corpses of two dead Taliban soldiers.

The video was posted on YouTube in January, where it circulated quickly and triggered widespread anger.

Another Marine is currently facing the same charges that Chamblin initially faced related to the incident. Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola will stand trial for desecration and misconduct that allegedly took place while he was deployed, including failing to supervise junior Marines, failing to require junior Marines to wear personal protective equipment, failing to report the misconduct of junior Marines, failing to report the negligent discharge of a grenade launcher and failing to stop the indiscriminate firing of weapons, according to the release.

Deptola is additionally charged with failing to stop the unnecessary damaging of Afghan compounds and wrongfully and indiscriminately firing a recovered enemy machine gun, according to a release.

A Camp Lejeune Marine pleaded guilty this week to urinating on the corpses of Taliban soldiers.

Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin pleaded guilty Wednesday in a special court martial aboard Camp Lejeune to two articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: Article 92, Dereliction, for failing to properly supervise junior Marines and wrongfully posing for photographs with human casualties; and Article 134, General Article, for wrongfully urinating on the body of a deceased enemy combatant, according to a press release from the base.

Chamblin, of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, was sentenced by a military judge to 30 days confinement, 60 days restriction, forfeiture of $500 per month for six months, a fine of $2,000 and reduction to E-3/lance corporal. However, a pre-trial agreement approved by Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, set Chamblin’s maximum sentence at forfeiture of $500 for one month and reduction to E-5/sergeant, according to the release.

A video of the incident, which took place in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in July 2011, showed what appeared to be four Marines urinating on the corpses of two dead Taliban soldiers.

The video was posted on YouTube in January, where it circulated quickly and triggered widespread anger.

Another Marine is currently facing the same charges that Chamblin initially faced related to the incident. Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola will stand trial for desecration and misconduct that allegedly took place while he was deployed, including failing to supervise junior Marines, failing to require junior Marines to wear personal protective equipment, failing to report the misconduct of junior Marines, failing to report the negligent discharge of a grenade launcher and failing to stop the indiscriminate firing of weapons, according to the release.

Deptola is additionally charged with failing to stop the unnecessary damaging of Afghan compounds and wrongfully and indiscriminately firing a recovered enemy machine gun, according to a release.

Three other Marines allegedly involved in the incident received nonjudicial punishment in August for their misconduct in the video. Marine officials say that since there are other pending cases related to the same incident, they are not discussing evidence nor the investigation’s specific findings.